Manometer.



No. 891,193. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. O. 0. SMITH & P. LANHAM.

MANOMETER.

APPLIUATIOK FILED AUG. 6, 1907.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

INVENTOR 0cm z/z'wflf. S m If Hz 1 Pa u 1 Leon Ila/m.

W [TNESS 4s Jfforlmy No. 891,198. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908.

' 0. 0. SMITH & P. LANHAM.

MANOMETER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1907.

2 SHEETS SHEBT 2.

[NVENTOR Ocfa m'uflC. Smi/fi Paul L anh am NUIHi-QEWIHF i ll.

WITNESSES Milan/6y showing amodi cation.

1 UNITED sTAtgEs PATENT oFFIoE.

OGT-AVIUS 0. SMITH AND PAUL LANHAM, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF OOLTTMBIA.

MANOMETEB.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. June 16, 1908.

Application filed August a, 1 07. Serial No. 387,883.

i To all whom it may concern:

which the followin is a specification.

Our invention re ates to manometers, particularly those employed toregister the flow of water in mains and record the variations in suchflow to the end that leaks, and wastage from other causes may beascertained and located; and the inventionmore especially has to do withimprovements in the t e of manometer known as the pitometer. l iiinstruments of this character heretofore known and used, the accuracy ofthe readings are materially impaired by two conditions. In the firstplace changes in temperature due to natural causes or to' the source oflight used in making the photographic record efiect marked fiu'ctuationsin the level of the liquid em loyed as an indicating medium, and, seconly, the sensitiveness of the instrument is tola considerable degreereduced by the vie-- reversed so as to form an inverted U, wherecosityof the liquid employed.

It is the object of our invention to overcome these difliculties and toroduce an instrument which is highly sensitive, respondlng quickly toall variations in flow 1n the mam and yet uninfluenced by extraneousconditions such as tem erature and the like. I

The invention, as ereinafter fully descrlbed and as particularly ointedout in the claims will be readily 'un erstood from an inspectlon of theaccompanying drawings, in which I Figure 1 is an elevation of apreferred embodiment of the device; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same,partially broken away; Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modification; Fig. 4is an edge view of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is, a detail of a clamp emplqlyed; andFig. 6 is a fragment The manometer, as illustrated, comprises anInverted U-tube having-legs 1 and 2. connected byflexible pipes 3 and'4with the fluctuating medium to be tested. This may be, for instance, thewater in amain, and-the tubes 3 and 4 may terminate therein in angularlydisposed open ti s as exemplified in the pitometer describe andillustrated in U. S. Patent 625541, although our device is adapted foruse in other relations where it is slit 10 and a source of actinic light1 1. far the construction and operation of our madesired'to measurefluctuations in liquid or gaseous pressure or flow. Within themanometer'tube is confined a colored liquid 5 having, preferably, afixed specific gravity but shghtly less than water, which liquid ismaintained in the upper part of the tube by the water 6 in the legs ofsaid tube; and the line of demarcation between the colored liquid 5 andthe water 6 is caused to fluctuate by inequalities of pressure in thepipe or main communicated through the tubes 3 and 4 to the water in thelegs 1 and 2 of the 'U-tube. This variation in pressure, measuring therate of flow in the main, may be read off the index 7 (Fig. 3), or acontinuous record may be obtained upon a roll 8 of sensitized. papermounted in a casing 9 to rotate before a narrow slit 10 in said casing,one leg of the manometer tube being interposed between the Thus nometeris substantially the same as those I heretofore known and as typified inthe patent above referred to, wit tant difference, however, that thetube is by it is made possibleto employ a colored liquid, such asbenzin, of a minus specific gravity and having a less viscosity than thevery impor-' those heretofore used. By the em loyment of an indicatingfluid slightly lig ter than .water, the sensitiveness of the device isenhanced.

The difliculties due to changes in temperature are overcome by theemployment of a water jacket 12 about the tube. The placing of such ajacket in position presents difficulties of manufacture and expense. Toavoid the bending of the tubes in site, we place two large glass tubes12 about the respective legs 1 and 2 of the manometer tube and a twopartseparable metal jacket 13 about the bend in the tube, providing packingbetween the edges of the members and clamping them together by means ofscrews 14 engaging threaded lu s 15 on said members.

Rubber ugs 16, arranged in the 10 er extremities o the tube 12' andplugs 17 co necting the said tubes at their upper ends with the metallicjacket 13, constitute water tight.

A clamp 21, clasping the two legs of the jacketed tube, is arranged tosupport the tube for vertical adjustment on the recorder case, keepers22 providing for horizontal adjustment, whereby the tube may beaccurately positioned relative to the scale or photographic drum. I

In the modified construction shown, the U-tube is not a bent continuoustube, but its upper portion is formed of a metallic section 23 providedwith a cock 24 and connecting the two legs 1 and 2 by means of suitablenuts and packing as shown in Fig. 3 in section. The cock 24 serves todischarge any air trapped in the tube and as an inlet for the indicatingfluid 5. In this case, the water jacket does not include the part 23,the flow of cooling water being from one leg to the other through tubes25 fixed in conical plugs 26 arranged in the upper flaring ends of themembers of the jacket 12 about the legs 1 and 2. This construction makesfor economy in the replacing of the U-tube where one of the legs isaccidentally broken.

A further arrangement is shown in Fig. 6, where the metallic section 23is surrounded by a jacket in the form of a coil 27 by which, instead ofthe pipe 25 of Fig. 3, the cooling water flows from one leg to theother.

In the specification and claims, by the language equalizing of thetemperature of the tube and the employing of a cooling medium, is to beunderstood the maintenance of an equable temperature, whether higher orlower at any particular time, than that of the surrounding atmosphere,and not necessarily the reducing of the temperature.

Having thus fully set forth our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a manometer, a U-tube arranged to receive a fluid in its medialportion, the two extremities of the .tube adapted to be connected to thebody to be tested, and means to counteract surrounding temperaturevariations whereby the temperature of the tube is maintained constant.

2. In a manometer, an inverted U-tube arranged to receive in its upperportion a fluid disslmilar to that to be tested, and the legs of thetube adapted to be connected to the bod of fluid to be tested, incombination with means to counteract-surrounding tempera-- tube adaptedto be placed in open commu i; cation wlth the body to be tested, andmeans to counteract surrounding temperature varlatlons whereby thetemperature of the tube is maintained constant.

5. In a manometer, the combination with a U-tube, and a connectionbetween said tube and the body to be tested, of a jacket about saidtube, and means to pass a cooling current through said jacket. A

6. In a manometer, the combination, with a U-tube, and a connectionbetween sai" tube and the body to be tested, of a larger tube about eachleg of the tube, plugs in the end of the large tubes, a connectionbetween the large tubes, and a water supply to the end of one of thelarge tubes ant an outlet from the opposite end of the'other large tube.

7. In a manometer, an inverted U-tube arranged to receive an indlcatingfluid in its upper portion, and a connection between the lower portionof the tube and the body to be tested, in combination with a jacketabout said inverted tube, and means to pass a cooling current throughsaid jacket.

8. In a manometer, an inverted U-tube arranged to receive an indicatingfluid in its upper portion, and a connection between the lower portionof the tube and the body to be tested, in combination with lar er tubesarranged about the two legs of t e U-tube, a

connection between the upper ends of the large tubes, a water supply tothe lower end of one large tube, and an outlet from the lower end of theother large tube.

9.. In a manometer, an inverted U-tube arranged to receive an indicatingfluid in its upper portion, and a connection between the lower portionof the tube and the bod to be tested, in combination with larger tu esarranged to inclose the two legs of the U-tube, a separable jacket toinclose the bend of the U-tube, connections between the'upper ends ofthe large tubes and the separable jacket, a water inlet to the lower endof one large tube and an outlet from the lower end of the other largetube.

10. In a manometer, an inverted U-tube arranged to receive in its upperportion an indicating fluid of different color from the body of fluid tobe tested, and a connection between the legs of the tube and the body tobe tested, in combination with lar er tubes arranged to inclose the twolegs 0 the U-tube, a separable jacket to inclose the bend of the U-tube,connections between the upper ends of the large tubes and the separablejacket, a'

water inlet to the lower end of one large tube and an outlet from thelower end of the other large tube.

11. In a manometer, an inverted U-tube havlng in its upper portion acolored indicating fluid, and a connection between the legs of the tubeand the body to be tested, in combination with larger tubes arranged toinclose the two legs'of the U-tube, a se arable jacket to inclose thebend of the U-tu e, connections between the u per ends of the largetubes and the separab e jacket, a water inlet to the lower end of one ofthe large tubes and'an outlet from the other large tube, a In testimonywhereof we a'flix our signasuitable support, a light-source, keepersseturns in presence of two witnesses.

4 cured to the support, a clamp havlng two OCTAVIUS 0. SMITH.

arms arranged to embrzree the respective legs PAUL LAN HAM. of thejacketed U-tube and a projecting bar Witnesses: to enter the keepers,and set screws to posi- L. T. GREIs'r,

tion the bar in the keepers. IDWIN (r). HILDEBRANI):

